The Emperor's mood didn't matter. What mattered was that the entire Galaxy had heard this declaration of independence, and the Imperium Secundus had firmly taken its place on the galactic stage.
Hogg, standing beside Guilliman, raised his right arm and pointed diagonally skyward. With a rather amusing gesture, he shouted down at the million-strong army below:
"Soldiers of the Imperium Secundus, no matter where you stood before, no matter whether you were rebels or loyalists, time will prove everything. I will give you all a fresh chance.
"The glory of the Great Crusade will not fade, and the shame of the Horus Heresy will not be forgotten. Everything that came before has branded you, but do you truly want to be imprisoned by that brand for the rest of your lives?"
Among you are traitors who have been reviled for ten thousand years, outcasts tormented by the Council, and the descendants of those who longed to serve the Imperium but were denied the chance, left to languish until they were exiled to the frontier and became space pirates.
We want to live. We want to bathe openly in the sunlight. We want to break this cage, revive humanity, and make the Imperium great again!
But what was the reality? After that Chaos conspiracy, the vast power that should have wiped out the Xenos and swept across the Galaxy was divided. Like brothers from the same family turning against one another, it had sunk into a mire of infighting.
Above us, the incompetent Witchcraft Bacon turned a blind eye. Below, the corrupt and rotten Council of High Lords ran rampant. The Imperium had become a decaying giant, sick unto death.
The shame of ten thousand years ago would not disappear, but we still had a chance. As long as we won